The technology sector is one that has embraced the storytelling value of social media pretty well. After all, technology is one of the biggest stories of the 21st century. However, one thing that many technology companies struggle with is creating local content to serve their international audiences. Too often, stories are not tailored to the specific needs of local audiences, which can cause messaging to fall flat in international markets. This guide will provide you with ten actionable tips explaining how technology companies can best use storytelling on social media, with a focus on how you can succeed with this internationally.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- The challenge of creating local content
- 10 tips for creating social media content for local markets
- Admit not everyone is at the same technological moment in time
- Create local customer stories
- Don’t just be catchy, be informative too
- Focus on local issues your software can fix
- Admit your flaws
- Put your company’s values into local perspective
- Talk about ethics
- Make sure your image library covers all locations
- Create (flexible) guidelines for your local social media teams
- Unite all your social media teams
- Conclusion
Introduction
Technology is the biggest story of the 21st century. It is embedded so much into our lives that its narratives sometimes feel too familiar to us: mobile technology can make you a professional photographer with just your phone, AI can take away all the boring tasks you do at work to let you focus on the creative bits, and so on. People see these stories so often that they are no longer swayed by them, but roll their eyes and quickly click that “skip” button. So, where can the technology sector go from here when it comes to storytelling on social media?
One major mistake that many technology companies make is assuming that everyone in the world is at the same technological stage. These technology companies may push the same products to different countries, as if they are identical markets with identical needs that will use the technology in identical ways. However, that is not the truth. The use of the same technology can be as diverse as the communities that use it. It is these cultural differences that constitute the storytelling gap that technology companies have yet to fill.
The challenge of creating local content
Creating local content – that accounts for different trends, at the same time, in multiple markets across the globe – is not easy. Social media editorial calendars are often centralised, created by one content team who will never have the time to research every single market and create content around the gaps they spot. Even if they had the time, budget and resources, this exercise would be fruitless because by the time all the content and social media posts and visuals were done, the trends would have moved on. You would need to start your research all over again and would never get anything live.
Having local teams that can do this for you makes the process easier, but comes with its own difficulties. There is always a discrepancy between the global perspective and the local perspective, and trying to align those two can take a long time. In fact, the larger the company, the more time it will take to get everyone on the same page.
That is why we have decided to put together this list of storytelling angles to help technology companies understand how to create high-quality social media content that is suitable for local markets. Let’s dive into it!
10 tips for creating social media content for local markets
The following tips come from our own personal experience of working with technology companies, but also from best practices when it comes to local content and storytelling, whether on social media or elsewhere.
1. Admit not everyone is at the same technological moment in time
Technology does not work the same for everyone around the world. Different countries are at different stages of technological advancement. There are countries like Japan and South Korea that are extremely technologically advanced, countries like Canada and France that are catching up with them, countries like Belgium and Norway on the next step, and so on. Some countries may surprise you; for example, did you know that Bulgaria has the fastest mobile internet speeds in Europe and the fourth fastest in the world?
Furthermore, different countries are in need of different uses of technology. In some countries, public interactions with governments take place mostly online, whereas in others they are mostly offline. In some countries, online payment methods for e-commerce purchases are popular, whereas in others they prefer to pay cash-on-delivery. In some countries, social commerce is commonplace, whereas in others it is viewed with more caution.
Find one thing that makes the markets you are in different and create content and social media posts around it.
2. Create local customer stories
Customer stories are great, but sometimes global technology brands push them in markets where they are not as relevant. It is essential to tailor your customer stories to your target markets.
Microsoft does a great job of doing this on its website, with different sections that target different countries bringing up different customer stories. Here is the page for Germany and here is the page for France.
Not only do these local customer stories make for great content on your website, but they are very shareable on social media as well.
3. Don’t just be catchy, be informative too
The technology industry is cool, above everything else. The tone of voice most technology companies use on social media can probably be attributed to a super-smart, nonchalant geek who came straight out of Silicon Valley. They can be fun and warm, but they must be cool. And it used to work. Using a catchy phrase to grab attention used to get you many engagements and clicks on social media.
Then, as with most things on social media, users caught on and moved on. They do not care about the cool phrases anymore. Companies have said them so often that they do not have as much value nowadays. That is what usually happens with social media trends. When they emerge, they are great, then as more people get on the trend wagon, they gradually start losing efficiency.
One thing that is very important on social media is to make sure your content focuses on the needs of your customer. How will your content help them? Give them a compelling reason why they should click the link in your social media post to read your blog post and not someone else’s which probably says something very similar. Do not just use catchy phrases that sound cool to you, but mean nothing to them. Make sure your social media posts focus on their needs and are informative.
4. Focus on local issues your software can fix
Your customers in local markets will have some issues in common and others that are particular to them because they have been created by the unique socio-economic and cultural environment of their country. Make a note of the local issues that stand apart and create localised content about them.
IBM, for example, has different services prioritised on its homepage for different markets – in the US it is about strengthening supply chains with generative AI solutions, and in the UK it is about being more productive with personalised AI assistants. These differences reflect its customers’ main challenges in each market.
Make sure you are addressing relevant local issues and how your software can provide solutions when coming up with your social media content.
5. Admit your flaws
This can be difficult. After all, going out on social media and saying you have done something wrong is not exactly easy.
It is, however, greatly appreciated, and a very human way of announcing you have updated a product or even launched a new one. Perhaps the reason behind this is the fact your old product had issues. If that is the case, it is better for you to come forward and admit it rather than social media users getting the gist from your customers.
The best thing about this approach is that it is extremely relatable. Humans make mistakes and behind every single brand are a lot of humans.
6. Put your company’s values into local perspective
Every company has its own carefully constructed set of values. Apple’s, for example, is built around inclusion, diversity and making a positive difference in society. Check out its diversity page to read more about it.
Creating social media content around your company values is a great way to show what drives you and why people should affiliate themselves with your brand. However, some of your values might mean different things to different countries. Inclusion sounds like it would be the same everywhere, but it is not. For some places, equality between the sexes is the biggest issue, but multicultural countries might put more emphasis on including certain ethnic groups and in other places, the first thing people think about when they mention inclusion is ensuring everyone in the LGBTQ+ community has the same rights as those outside of it.
Knowing what matters most and how you can aid each country you are in can help you make fans, not just customers. Going back to Apple, you can safely say its buyers are no longer just that; they are brand advocates, doing much of Apple’s promotion for them. That is what you want from your customers and the way to achieve it is to show that you care about their issues, not just their money.
Your local teams can be of great help with this. Your Corporate Responsibility (CR) team, if you have one, or your Human Resources team, if you do not, should also be involved. Get a list of all the charity or CR activities you will have during the year and ensure they appear somewhere on your social media pages – the lighter networks like Facebook and Instagram are preferable for this, but X (formerly known as Twitter) is also great for events. You can also mention events from around the world on your global pages, as this will help you raise awareness of certain issues other communities are dealing with.
7. Talk about ethics
Ethics should be an important part of any technology company’s social media content calendar.
One example of a relevant ethical concern could be the use of customers’ data. In Germany, users are extremely protective of their data, so educating them with social media content about your approach to data privacy can encourage them to fill in your registration forms.
Like with so many of the tips already mentioned, this is all about doing your research, especially if you notice you are not getting enough leads or positive engagements in a certain market.
8. Make sure your image library covers all locations
A very important thing that can sometimes be missed is including all the markets you are active in, in your image library.
Most technology companies have a brand tools website that everyone has access to, but we have seen a lot of cases of smaller countries not having enough visual content to use with their social media posts. This is particularly important for events that should ideally have an image of the location they are held in.
The solution here is simple: either include your local teams in the discussions every time you source new images for your library or allow them to directly contribute to it.
9. Create (flexible) guidelines for your local social media teams
One of the things technology companies struggle with is creating guidelines for local teams when it comes to their social media pages. This can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration from the local teams because what works in one market on social media does not necessarily work in another. Furthermore, there might be different rules around data and different relationships with sponsors, partners and vendors.
We would advise you to provide a set of general guidelines for every one of your teams, then invite them to add their own or alter them if they do not fit the market they are active in, provided they can prove with data or research that the original guidelines would not generate more interactions on social media in their market.
The flexible guidelines should be around things like the type of content the posts link to, character length, posting time, hashtags and images. The rules should not be flexible when it comes to anything related to your brand’s trademark.
10. Unite all your social media teams
And finally, make your local social media teams part of your global social media strategy. This is not easy, particularly if you operate across many different countries, but it is crucial to ensure your social media presence is optimised everywhere you are.
We have seen first-hand some great ways in which technology companies do this: organising monthly online catch-ups, making sure there are enough resources to link the headquarters to the local teams, training seminars or webinars, and even bi-annual team building trips where everyone can get to know each other.
Conclusion
So, where can technology companies go from here with their storytelling on social media? On a trip around the world! There is a gap of local content that is not easy to fill, but that can do wonders for getting international fans. Show your local customers that you understand them and that you want to help their community. The greatest way of doing this is by getting your own local teams in on the plan. We hope that the tips given in this guide will enable you to take those first steps towards international social media success. Good luck!
To read more guides on digital marketing for the technology sector, click here.